Ukraine crisis: the countdown to peace

The Telegraph's Moscow correspondent Roland Oliphant reports from Mariupol in
Ukraine as fighting turns to peace

Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels reached a ceasefire agreement on Friday, the first step toward ending fighting in eastern Ukraine that has caused the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War ended.

The ceasefire deal was struck in the Belarussian capital Minsk along with a deal allowing for prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons after five months of a conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people.

Despite some initial shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk after the truce began at 6 ppm (1500 GMT), the ceasefire appeared to be holding. But many residents and combatants were sceptical that the ceasefire could last long or provide the basis for a durable peace settlement.